Chapter 149: Inspection

The banquet was drawing to a close.

Gorong, his face flushed red from drink, seemed to finally remember there was one important thing he had forgotten to ask, so he let out a hiccup and said.

"... Come to think of it, there is one thing I don't understand. Your territory—the Necropolis—doesn't it have a teleportation array?"

Luo Yan replied.

"It's not that it doesn't, why do you ask?"

Gorong rubbed his smooth, bald head and said sheepishly.

"It's nothing, I just find it strange. Since you have a teleportation array, why didn't you fly directly there instead of making a special detour through my place? Of course, I welcome you to visit often."

Although he was forgetful when he drank too much, Gorong was not truly foolish; he had some cunning in his heart, though he couldn't compare to the demons of the Demon Capital.

Having previously received news from the Internal Affairs Department that the Demon King would be passing through his territory, he had gathered his subordinate strategists to hold a meeting.

Although they had gotten dead drunk at the meeting, that was a matter for later. In short, they had reached a conclusion: the Demon Capital had not sent envoys for too long, to the point where they suspected their faith might not be devout, so they had the Demon King, who happened to be returning to the Demon King's territory, stop by to take a look.

Gorong said with his hand on his heart that he was not a devout believer; if he hadn't been unable to stand the habits of the dwarves, he wouldn't have fallen so far as to shave his head.

However, apart from the Demon God's family, he had no other choice in the entire Underworld. To obtain the protection of Hell, he still had to put on an act.

This was one of the reasons why he was so enthusiastic toward Luo Yan.

Looking at Gorong, who was asking questions by beating around the bush, Luo Yan paused slightly and said in an uncertain tone.

"Did the Internal Affairs Department not tell you the situation?"

Gorong looked at him, completely bewildered.

"Situation? What situation?"

"Regarding the Chaos invasion," Luo Yan said, coughing lightly as he looked at the seemingly stunned Gorong, and explained, "Due to various reasons, a Gate of Chaos has appeared in my territory... I am returning this time precisely to resolve this matter."

As his voice fell, Gorong made no reaction, just sitting there motionless.

Unlike the demons of the Demon Capital.

Almost all demons, upon hearing of the Gate of Chaos, would have their expressions change slightly, as if facing a formidable enemy!

Watching the leader of Calamity Fortress, who remained calm and composed, Luo Yan was just admiring the guy's unflappability when, the next second, he heard a contrived snoring sound drift up.

"Hmph..."

Gorong Steel-Bone, head buried, was actually snoring on the spot, and the Hell Dwarves sitting around them acted as if they hadn't seen it, continuing to make a ruckus and gorge themselves.

Luo Yan hadn't counted on them sending troops to help, but he truly hadn't expected this respected Lord of Calamity Fortress to be so thick-skinned.

Sure enough—

He had overestimated these guys.

"Actually, the situation isn't that bad, and it's not the first time we've encountered this thing," Luo Yan said, putting down his wine cup and sighing lightly, "If I didn't have full confidence, I wouldn't have left the good life in the Demon Capital to come back here."

This sentence seemed to have some persuasive power, while also inadvertently revealing that this Demon King's status in the Demon Capital was not simple.

Gorong, who had sneezed, finally woke up and cast an embarrassed smile at Luo Yan, as if he had really fallen asleep by accident.

"Haha, sorry my friend, I accidentally fell asleep just now... Where were we? Right, Chaos, that damned Chaos... We can be considered old enemies with that thing."

After the banquet ended, Luo Yan declined the invitation from Gorong Steel-Bone to stay for a few days, and left the territory of Calamity Fortress with Ouke and thousands of goblins.

The Demon King's territory could not be without a Demon King, especially at this critical juncture; he truly had no time to be leisurely.

Traveling along the tunnel for the whole journey, Luo Yan confirmed that no one was following behind, and then took his subordinates, who hadn't been on the road long, to find a cave nearby to set up camp.

Watching the Demon King order the camp to be set up, Ouke asked with a puzzled face.

"Lord Demon King, why don't we just stay in the Hell Dwarves' castle? It doesn't seem that far from here..."

He dared not question the decision of Lord Demon King, but felt that doing this seemed a bit superfluous.

Luo Yan replied casually.

"Passing through Calamity Fortress was just for show; after all, some things are hard to explain, and it's not convenient for the Demon Capital to know."

While speaking, Luo Yan took out tools from his luggage and drew a standard circle on the ground as the base for a teleportation array.

Seeing the actions of Lord Demon King, Ouke was slightly stunned at first, his face suddenly showing a look of surprise.

"You intend to go back via a teleportation array?"

"We," Luo Yan said without raising his head while drawing the teleportation array, correcting Ouke's phrasing, "It's over a hundred kilometers from here to the Necropolis; I don't have time to take you on a hundred-kilometer mountain trek."

Ouke's eyes instantly turned to terror.

"Bu, but..."

Luo Yan couldn't be bothered with nonsense, and blocked his mouth with one sentence.

"Not so many buts; whatever I tell you to do, you just do it."

Although Gorong was not very kind, he was ultimately too embarrassed to mention the expenses of the teleportation array, so the magic crystals allocated to Luo Yan by the Demon King Management Department were silently kept by the latter.

According to the magic crystal consumption when the "Crown of Malice" mercenary group used the teleportation array previously, this batch of magic crystals was enough to pay for the rest of the journey.

After drawing the teleportation array, Luo Yan cast the spell to activate the magic array under the fearful gazes of the goblins, and then drove them in front of the teleportation array.

"Hurry up! Get in quickly!"

Facing the urging of Lord Demon King, even if the goblins had ten thousand reluctances in their hearts, they could only step into the teleportation array with the feeling of heading to the execution ground.

With a dizzying jolt, the goblins who passed through the teleportation gate fell onto the teleportation array at the end of the subspace passage like dumplings.

To their surprise, what met their eyes was not an unknown Chaos wasteland, but an ancient castle that looked decent enough.

Truly strange!

Wasn't it said that the Gate of Chaos would hijack the subspace passage?

How come there was no impact?!

Ouke widened his eyes in astonishment, looking around in disbelief, but saw familiar figures here.

"Hey, long time no see." Miranda, floating in mid-air, waved at him and greeted him with a shy smile.

Not just Lord Demon King's researcher!

The Great Spider and the Cat-Ears were also here!

Ouke exclaimed.

"What is the situation?! Co, could it be... you solved the impact of the Gate of Chaos on the subspace shipping lane?!"

"Not quite, I'm not that capable," Miranda smiled embarrassedly and said modestly, "But my research has had some other progress."

Ouke looked at him with a confused face, unable to understand.

"Then why are we—"

"Because this is not the Necropolis at all, but Planet Kao."

Emerald green light flickered, and Luo Yan, who was at the end of the queue, also passed through the teleportation gate and stepped onto the hard stone slab floor before the passage closed.

"That's right!" Miranda said with a smile, looking at the bewildered Ouke, "Welcome to the outpost fortress of Planet Kao; this is the first colony we have established in the Chaos world."

"Colony... Chaos... world?" Ouke widened his eyes in surprise, his jaw almost dropping to the ground, unable to close it for a long time.

If this wasn't a joke, wouldn't those terrifying evil spirits be looking down at them from above their heads?

Looking at Ouke's fearful appearance, Miranda knew he was overthinking, just like the orc mercenaries who had just arrived.

"Actually, it's not as exaggerated as you think. Although the corrosion of Chaos is everywhere, it cannot directly affect us. It's just like the Demon God Bayeli and Saint Xisi; very few people have truly seen them, and the only ones they can affect are a few 'God-Chosen' who face them directly... I don't know if you can understand me saying it like this."

Ouke was not an ordinary goblin after all, but a slave who had done odd jobs under the mages of the Xuebang Academy; in other words, a graduate student.

After he calmed down, he immediately grasped the meaning of Miranda's words, and the fearful look in his eyes was immediately replaced by pure surprise.

"So that's how it is..."

Miranda said with a sunny, bright smile.

"Isn't it wonderful? By the way, my discoveries aren't just these..."

Just as the ghost and the goblin were exchanging academic questions, Sara, wearing a black cloak, had already knelt on one knee on the ground.

Looking at the figure on the teleportation array, those amber eyes were filled with longing, and the cat ears on top of her head swayed back and forth.

"Greetings, Lord Demon King!"

If it weren't for her reserve, she probably would have pounced on him already.

Not just Sara, Arakudo, who was waiting in front of the teleportation array, was the same; looking at the master who had returned home, he excitedly tapped his eight legs on the spot.

"Respected my Lord, supreme Demon King, you have finally returned!" "Yes, I have returned, Arakudo; your way of greeting is still so embarrassing."

Luo Yan greeted him with a smile, then looked at Sara again, and said in a gentle tone, "Get up, let me see if you have been slacking off in the days I was away."

"Mm!"

Sara nodded, stood up happily, her eyes filled with anticipation.

In fact, as early as when he stepped off the teleportation array just now, Luo Yan had already seen Sara's attribute panel through Hearing You You, and the reason he said this was mainly to respond to her anticipation.

【

ID: Sara

Race: Demon Human

Soul Tier: Bronze (Level Cap lv30)

Level: lv. 15

Constitution: 14

Strength: 16

Agility: 21

Intelligence: 10

Spirit: 10

】

"Not bad, it seems you haven't been slacking off during this period."

A look of approval appeared on Luo Yan's face.

In just one week, she had improved from the peak of the Black Iron tier to Bronze, and her level had also risen to lv15.

Tempered by a series of battles, she could now be called a warrior capable of standing on her own.

Recalling her appearance when they first met, Luo Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart; her changes could truly be called astonishing.

Hearing the Demon King's praise, a rosy luster appeared on Sara's face, and the corners of her mouth, slightly proud, curled upward.

"I was just training according to your instructions... Thank you for your cultivation."

Watching the Cat-Ears who had received the Demon King's praise, Arakudo was not to be outdone and leaned over, shouting as if to claim credit.

"Lord Demon King! Arakudo has not failed your expectations either! These past few days I have been honing my hunting skills!"

Seeing how urgent Arakudo was, Luo Yan also opened his attribute panel and took a look.

【

ID: Arakudo

Race: Cave Spider

Soul Tier: Bronze (Level Cap lv30)

Level: lv. 15

Constitution: 17

Strength: 16

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 4

Spirit: 3

】

This guy really hadn't lied; during the time he was away, he had indeed been training hard, but compared to Sara's growth, it was still a bit weaker, to the point where his level had been caught up by the latter.

In addition, as the first strategist of the Shadow-Weaving Nest, this guy's spirit and intelligence attributes still hadn't seen any growth, only his constitution and strength had improved slightly.

However, this guy was a mount after all, and his status was still a bit different from Sara and Ouke, so Luo Yan naturally didn't have such high requirements, and thus still said in an encouraging tone.

"Well done, Arakudo! I hope you will continue to make persistent efforts and strive to surpass Lady Arachinos one day."

Luo Yan said with a smile while reaching out to pat his big head, then looked at Sara who was standing on the side.

"Take me around the vicinity; let me see how my minions have built our outpost fortress!"

Sara gladly accepted the order and said.

"Yes! Lord Demon King."

Following behind Sara, Luo Yan left the teleportation room located in the castle basement and headed to the main hall of the outpost fortress.

Here sat a Demon King statue crafted from granite, and around the statue was a circle of faith crystals, and at this moment, those crystals were all filled with surging energy!

These were all faith power collected by the Lizardman acolytes of the Palace-Guarding clan through prayer.

Perhaps because of the scarcity of living beings, the "per capita distributable faith power" of this world was exceptionally abundant; dozens of acolytes had collected 40,000 points of faith value in just a few days!

This amount of faith power was enough to raise four Black Iron tier players to Bronze!

And if it were in the Necropolis, the efficiency of these acolytes in collecting faith power might only be one-fourth or even less, and they would have to cooperate with the prayers of ordinary believers to achieve the same effect.

Although this planet was desolate and barren, just the fact that it was rich in faith power was enough for Luo Yan to value this outpost fortress.

After all, the stronger the players were, the more cards he had in his hand.

Moreover, this faith power could be used not only by players, but also by himself and other subordinates loyal to him.

After his strength broke through to Gold or even Platinum, he would consider letting his minions enjoy the pleasure of soul ascension.

Watching the Demon King standing in front of the Demon King statue, a Lizardman acolyte walked to his side and said in a respectful voice.

"My Lord, according to your instructions, we have stored the faith power in these crystals; please take a look!"

"You have done well; please continue to keep it up."

Luo Yan nodded in appreciation, and at the same time, in front of the acolytes, absorbed the faith power and incorporated it into his own godhood.

Witnessing this scene, the acolytes were filled with awe, and the expressions on their faces became increasingly devout.

Only gods could absorb the faith power attached to tributes; for mortals and ordinary demons, they could collect faith but could not use it directly.

Therefore, in a sense, what Luo Yan was doing at this moment was almost equivalent to showing them a miracle in the identity of a god.

If it were in the Demon Capital, Luo Yan would not be able to do this.

No matter how tempting the faith crystals placed under the Demon God statue on Ghost Street were, he had never had any designs on them.

If it were discovered that he could absorb faith power for his own use, the people from the Truth Department would come to deal with him in minutes.

However, this is Chaos, and since everyone standing here is his own believer, Luo Yan didn't need to be so secretive.

The acolyte at the head nodded slightly and said in a respectful and sincere voice.

"As you command!"

Luo Yan nodded and did not linger here, instead following Sarah toward the front of the great hall and stepping into the area where the players were active.

This area belongs to the "Quality Plaza" of the new map, mainly a place for players to form parties, accept quests, and trade materials; undead and demons wearing heavy armor engraved with Nether-runes were coming and going in the spacious hall.

The players active in this generation are mainly "big shots" above the Black Iron tier.

Some of them were discussing strategies, some were sitting on the ground setting up stalls to sell equipment or selling themselves, and a few were just here to join in the fun and sightsee.

Compared to the labyrinth, Planet Kao is a decent leveling spot; the only drawback is that the materials dropped by monsters are relatively monotonous, so not all players like it here.

Luo Yan also doesn't want all players to run over here.

For one, the Great Graveyard also needs people, and for another, the diminishing marginal utility of local human resource investment is obvious.

The players' role here is mainly to ensure the Great Graveyard's military presence on Planet Kao and to harass Chaos forces; as for the "Blood Crystals" players harvest from killing monsters, he has not yet figured out a way to utilize them.

Although the power flowing within those crystals also belongs to transcendent power, it is different from any known type on the Aos Continent.

And the reason Luo Yan sent Miranda here was precisely to crack this mystery and find a way to utilize that scarlet energy.

At the very least, converting it into magic crystals that can be used on the Aos Continent would also be good.

Compared to the magic crystals dropped by monsters on the Aos Continent, these crystals, which have condensed all the flesh and blood essence of the monsters, are clearly purer and much larger.

Seeing the Demon King suddenly appear in the Quality Plaza, the coming and going players cast surprised gazes at him one after another.

They weren't surprised that the Demon King suddenly appeared here, but rather surprised that this guy had disappeared for so long and suddenly reappeared.

"Truly rare... speaking of which, I didn't even notice that our Demon King has been offline for a week?"

"So he was here all along?"

"That's not right, I remember this fortress was only found by Ye Zhiqiu and the others a few days ago, right?"

"Could this guy have gone back to the Demon Capital for a blind date?"

"Pfft—"

"Forget him, I don't care what he went to do, I just want to grind monsters and level up!"

The players discussed it for a while, but didn't gossip out anything substantial, so they stopped paying attention to him before long.

Luo Yan also had no intention of interfering with the players' game progress, at least there was no need for that now.

He strolled around the plaza and then walked straight to the entrance of the castle.

It just so happened to be the time for the patrol team to change shifts, and Sanu was checking posts at the castle gate.

Seeing Luo Yan appear at the castle entrance, an expression of surprise immediately appeared on his face, and he temporarily put down his work to greet him.

"Lord Demon King... why have you come?"

(End of chapter)